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Spartak Moscow

Full name	Футбольный клуб Спартак Москва (Football Club Spartak Moscow)
Nickname(s)	Gladiatory (Gladiators) Narodnaya komanda (The People's Team) Krasno-Belye (Red-and-Whites)
Founded	18 April 1922; 102 years ago (1922-04-18)
Ground	Lukoil Arena
Capacity	45,360
Owner	Lukoil: 90% Sir B.J. Webb: 10%
Manager	Dejan Stanković
League	Russian Premier League
2023–24	Russian Premier League, 5th of 16
Website	spartak.com
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

FC Spartak Moscow (Russian: Футбольный клуб «Спартак» Москва, romanized: Futbolʹnyy klub «Spartak» Moskva, pronounced [spɐrˈtak mɐˈskva]) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Having won 12 Soviet championships (second only to Dynamo Kyiv) and 10 Russian championships (a record jointly held with Zenit St Petersburg), it is the country's most successful club. They have also won a record 10 Soviet Cups, 4 Russian Cups and one Russian Super Cup. Spartak have also reached the semi-finals of UEFA Europa League, UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup Winner's Cup.

History

Foundation and early period (1883–1941)

In the early days of Soviet football, government agencies such as the police, army, and railroads created their own clubs. Many statesmen saw in the wins of their teams the superiority over the opponents patronising other teams. Almost all the teams had such kind of patrons; Dynamo Moscow aligned with the Militsiya, CSKA Moscow with the Red Army, and Spartak, created by a trade union public organization, was considered to be "the people's team".

The history of the football club and sports society "Spartak" originates from the Russian Gymnastics Society (RGO Sokol [ru]), which was founded on 16 May 1883. The society was founded under the influence of the Pan-Slavic "Sokol movement" with the aim of promoting the "Sokolsk gymnastics" and then sports including fencing, wrestling, figure skating, skating, football, hockey, lawn tennis, boxing, skis, athletics, and cycling. In the RGO Sokol began to play football in the summer of 1897; the professional football section was founded in the spring of 1909. On 1 August 1920, the football team began to officially act under the name MCS, or Moscow Sports Club.

In 1923, the MCS, later named Krasnaya Presnya (Red Presnya), was formed by Ivan Artemyev and involved Nikolai Starostin, especially in its football team. Presnya is a district of Moscow renowned for the radical politics of its inhabitants; for example, it represented the centre of the Moscow uprising of 1905.

The team grew, building a stadium, supporting itself from ticket sales and playing matches across the Russian SFSR. As part of a 1926 reorganization of football in the Soviet Union, Starostin arranged for the club to be sponsored by the food workers union and the club moved to the 13,000 seat Tomsky Stadium, known as Pishcheviki. The team changed sponsors repeatedly over the following years as it competed with Dinamo Moscow, whose 35,000 seat Dynamo Stadium lay close by.

As a high-profile sportsman, Starostin came into close contact with Alexander Kosarev, secretary of the Komsomol (Communist Union of Youth) who already had a strong influence on sport and wanted to extend it. In November 1934, with funding from Promkooperatsiia, Kosarev employed Starostin and his brothers to develop his team to make it more powerful. Again the team changed its name, this time to "Spartak Moscow" (the name Spartak means "Spartacus", a gladiator who led an uprising against Ancient Rome).

The club founders, four Starostin brothers, played a big role in the formation of the team. The Starostins played for the red-whites in the 1930s but right before World War II they were subjected to repression as the leaders of the most hated team by the state authorities. Elder brother Nikolai Starostin wrote in his books that he had survived in the State Prison System due to his participation in football and with Spartak (after the political rehabilitation, in 1954, he would later return to the team as the squad's manager).

In 1935, Starostin proposed the name Spartak. It was inspired by the Italian novel Spartaco, written by Raffaello Giovagnoli, and means Spartacus ("Spartak" in Russian), a gladiator-slave who led a rebellion against Rome. Starostin is also credited with the creation of the Spartak logo. The same year, the club became a part of newly created Spartak sports society.

Czechoslovak manager Antonin Fivebr is credited as the first head coach of Spartak, though he worked as a consultant in several clubs simultaneously. In 1936, the Soviet Top League was established, where its first championship was won by Dynamo Moscow while Spartak won its second, which was held in the same calendar year. Before World War II, Spartak earned two more titles. In 1937, Spartak won the football tournament of Workers' Olympiad at Antwerp.

Post-war period (1945–1991)

During the 1950s, Spartak, together with Dynamo, dominated the Soviet Top League. When the Soviet national team won gold medals at the Melbourne Olympics, it consisted largely of Spartak players. Spartak captain Igor Netto was the captain of the national team from 1954 to 1963. In the 1960s, Spartak won two league titles, but by the mid-1960s, Spartak was no more regarded as a leading Soviet club. The club was even less successful in the 1970s and in 1976 Spartak was relegated into the lower league.

The following season in 1979, fans stayed with the team despite being relegated to the lower division, keeping the stadium full. Konstantin Beskov became the head coach. He had made his name playing for Spartak's main rivals, Dynamo Moscow). He introduced several young players, including Rinat Dasayev and Georgi Yartsev. Spartak returned the following season and won the title in 1979, beating Dynamo Kyiv.

On 20 October 1982, disaster struck during the UEFA Cup match between Spartak and Dutch club HFC Haarlem. Sixty-six people died in a crowd crush during the match, making it Russia's worst sporting disaster.

In 1989, Spartak won its last USSR Championship, rivals Dynamo Kyiv 2–1 in the closing round. Spartak's striker Valery Shmarov scored the "golden" free kick with almost no time left. The next season, Spartak reached the European Cup semi-final, consequently eliminating Napoli on penalties and Real Madrid (with 3–1 away victory), but losing to Marseille.

Modern period (1991–present)

Initial success (1991–2004)

A new page in the club's history began when the Soviet Union collapsed and its championship ceased to exist. In the newly created Russian league, Spartak, led by coach and president Oleg Romantsev, dominated and won all but one title between 1992 and 2001. Season after season the team also represented Russia in the Champions League.

Problems began in the new century, however. Several charismatic players (Ilya Tsymbalar and Andrey Tikhonov among others) left the club as a result of conflict with Romantsev. Later, Romantsev sold his stock to oil magnate Andrei Chervichenko, who in 2003 became the club president. The two were soon embroiled in a row that would continue until Romantsev was sacked in 2003 with the club suffering several sub-par seasons until Chervichenko finally sold his stock in 2004. The new ownership made a number of front office changes with the aim of returning the team to the top of the Russian Premier League.

Spartak has been entitled to place a golden star on its badge since 2003 to commemorate winning five Russian championships in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997. They have won the championship another four times since 1997.

Title-less run (2004–2016)

In 2004, Leonid Fedun became the club's President and second-largest shareholder behind his business partner Vagit Alekperov.

In the 2005 season, Spartak, led by Aleksandrs Starkovs, finished second in the league to beat Lokomotiv Moscow, Zenit Saint Petersburg and Rubin Kazan to the last Champions League place. Following a mixed start to the 2006 season and public criticism from Dmitry Alenichev, the team's captain and one of its most experienced players, Starkovs left his position to Vladimir Fedotov.

In the 2012–13 season, Spartak qualified for the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League group stage and finished last after disappointing performances against FC Barcelona, Celtic and Benfica. In the league, Spartak finished in fourth place while in the cup it was eliminated in the round of 16 by FC Rostov 0–0 (3–5 p), completing a disappointing season.

Since 2013, the club have added another three stars as rules allowed teams to include titles won during the Soviet era.

The next 3 seasons (2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16) were somewhat similar as Spartak finished 6th, 6th and 5th accordingly while the club did not qualify for European Competitions.

Revival (2016–2022)

By the beginning of the 2016–17 season, under ex-Juventus manager Massimo Carrera, Spartak had acquired a squad consisting of foreign talents such as Quincy Promes, Fernando, Zé Luís, Lorenzo Melgarejo and Russians such as Denis Glushakov, Roman Zobnin and Ilya Kutepov. Spartak won the 2016–17 Russian Premier League with the squad, winning most derbies and ultimately finishing with a difference of 7 points.

The following season, Spartak participated in the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League group stage. Despite suffering its greatest ever loss in a 7-0 result against Liverpool F.C. at Anfield, the club achieved considerable victories, including a 5-1 win against Sevilla FC.

Having finished second 2020-21 Russian Premier League under manager Domenico Tedesco, whose contract expired at the season's end, Spartak followed up with a successful run in the 2021–22 UEFA Europa League, now led by Rui Vitoria. Spartak topped its group, which included Napoli (which it defeated both home and away), Leicester City and Legia Warsaw. It was set to face RB Leipzig in the round of 16, but the club - along with all Russian club and national teams - was suspended from FIFA, UEFA and the ECA until further notice due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the clubs continued to play with themselves.

On 29 May 2022, in the final match of Paolo Vanoli (manager since December 2021), Spartak won the 2021–22 Russian Cup.

New ownership (2022–present)

On August 22, 2022, PJSC Lukoil Oil Company announced the acquisition of Spartak Moscow and Otkritie Arena. This occurred after numerous changes at the club, such as the appointment of Spanish specialist Guillermo Abascal as manager, his assistants Carlos Maria Valle Moreno and Vladimir Slišković, physical training coaches Fernando Perez Lopez and Alexander Zaichenko, and goalkeeper coach Vasily Kuznetsov. At 33 years of age, Abascal became the youngest manager in the club's history. It was also reported that Leonid Fedun has resigned as President of the club and member of the board of directors. Under his leadership of more than 18 years, he left behind a mixed legacy. The club had won only a single Russian league, cup and supercup. Second place in the league was achieved six times, and four times the club head reached the group stage of the Champions League. A stadium solely for the use of the club was built for the first time. On September 26, 2022 Alexander Matytsyn, first vice president of Lukoil, became chairman of the board of directors of FC Spartak. Lukoil's top managers Pavel Zhdanov, Ivan Maslyaev, and Yevgeny Khavkin joined the board of directors, as did Spartak's general director Yevgeny Melezhikov (left the club in the summer of 2023), academy president Sergei Rodionov, as well as independent directors Oleg Malyshev and Yusuf Alekperov. Englishman Paul Ashworth was appointed sporting director. In December 2023, it was announced that the club was reviving a second team, closed in 2022 due to lack of funding. It will be entered in the second league.

Honours

Domestic competitions

• Soviet Top League/Russian Premier League
  • Champions (22) (record): 1936 (autumn), 1938, 1939, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1962, 1969, 1979, 1987, 1989 / 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2016–17
  • Runners-up (16): 1937, 1954, 1955, 1963, 1974, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1991, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011–12, 2020–21
• Soviet Cup/Russian Cup
  • Winners (14) (record): 1938, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1950, 1958, 1963, 1965, 1971, 1992, 1993–94, 1997–98, 2002–03, 2021–22
  • Runners-up (7): 1948, 1952, 1957, 1972, 1981, 1995–96, 2005–06
• Russian Super Cup
  • Winners: 2017
  • Runners-up (4): 2004, 2006, 2007, 2022
• Soviet First League
  • Champions: 1977
• USSR Federation Cup
  • Winners: 1987

International

• Commonwealth of Independent States Cup
  • Winners (6): 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001
  • Runners-up: 1997, 1998, 2002

Non-official

• Match Premier Cup
  • Winners: 2019, 2020, 2021
• Ciutat de Barcelona Trophy
  • Winners: 1982
• Copa del Sol
  • Winners: 2012

Notable European campaigns

UEFA club coefficient ranking

As of 22 September 2023, Source:

99	Zorya Luhansk	14.500
100	Anderlecht	14.500
101	Spartak Moscow	14.500
102	Köln	6.000
103	Hoffenheim	12.000

Football Club Elo ranking

As of 14 June 2023

Rank	Team	Points
155	Millwall	1536
156	Tenerife	1536
157	Spartak Moscow	1535
158	West Bromwich	1531
159	Molde	1531

As of 14 August 2018

League history

Soviet Union

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Europe		Top scorer (league)	Manager/acting manager
1936 (s)	1st	3	6	3	1	2	12	7	13	-	-		Glazkov – 4	Kozlov
1936 (a)		1	7	4	2	1	19	10	17	QF	-		Glazkov – 7	Kozlov
1937		2	16	8	5	3	24	16	37	R16	-		Rumyantsev – 8	Kvashnin
1938		1	25	18	3	4	74	19	39	W	-		Sokolov – 18	Kvashnin P.Popov
1939		1	26	14	9	3	58	23	37	W	-		Semyonov – 18	P.Popov
1940		3	24	13	5	6	54	35	31	-	-		Semyonov – 13 Kornilov – 13	Gorokhov
1944		no league competition								SF	-		-	Kvashnin
1945		10	22	6	3	13	22	44	15	R16	-		Timakov – 7	Isakov Vollrat
1946		6	22	8	5	9	38	40	21	W	-		Salnikov – 9	Vollrat
1947		8	24	6	9	9	34	26	21	W	-		Dementyev – 9	Vollrat
1948		3	26	18	1	7	64	34	37	RU	-		Konov – 15	Kvashnin
1949		3	34	21	7	6	93	43	49	SF	-		Simonyan – 26	Dangulov
1950		5	36	17	10	9	77	40	44	W	-		Simonyan – 34	Dangulov
1951		6	28	13	5	10	50	35	31	QF	-		Simonyan – 10	Dangulov Gorokhov Glazkov
1952		1	13	9	2	2	26	12	20	RU	-		Paramonov – 8	Sokolov
1953		1	20	11	7	2	47	15	29	QF	-		Simonyan – 14	Sokolov
1954		2	24	14	3	7	49	26	31	R16	-		Ilyin – 11	Sokolov
1955		2	22	15	3	4	55	27	33	SF	-		Parshin – 13	Gulyaev
1956		1	22	15	4	3	68	28	34	-	-		Simonyan – 16	Gulyaev
1957		3	22	11	6	5	43	28	28	RU	-		Simonyan – 12	Gulyaev
1958		1	22	13	6	3	55	28	32	W	-		Ilyin – 19	Gulyaev
1959		6	22	8	8	6	32	28	24	-	-		Isaev – 8	Gulyaev
1960		7	30	15	7	8	52	32	37	R16	-		Ilyin – 13	Simonyan
1961		3	30	16	8	6	57	34	40	R16	-		Khusainov – 14	Simonyan
1962		1	32	21	5	6	61	25	47	R16	-		Sevidov – 16	Simonyan
1963		2	38	22	8	8	65	33	52	W	-		Sevidov – 15	Simonyan
1964		8	32	12	8	12	34	32	32	SF	-		Sevidov – 6	Simonyan
1965		8	32	10	12	10	28	26	32	W	-		Khusainov – 5 Reingold – 5	Simonyan
1966		4	36	15	12	9	45	41	42	QF	-		Osyanin – 15	Gulyaev
1967		7	36	13	14	9	38	30	40	R32	CWC	R16	Khusainov – 8	Salnikov Simonyan
1968		2	38	21	10	7	64	43	52	R32	-		Khusainov – 14	Simonyan
1969		1	32	24	6	2	51	15	54	R32	-		Osyanin – 16	Simonyan
1970		3	32	12	14	6	43	25	38	QF	-		Khusainov – 12	Simonyan
1971		6	30	9	13	8	35	31	31	W	ECC	R32	Kiselyov – 5 Silagadze – 5 Piskarev – 5	Simonyan
1972		11	30	8	10	12	29	30	26	RU	UC	R32	Papaev – 4 Andreev – 4 Piskarev – 4	Simonyan
1973		4	30	14	8	8	37	28	31	QF	CWC	QF	Piskarev – 12	Gulyaev
1974		2	30	15	9	6	41	23	39	QF	-		Piskarev – 10	Gulyaev
1975		10	30	9	10	11	27	30	28	R16	UC	R64	Lovchev – 8	Gulyaev
1976 (s)		14	15	4	2	9	10	18	10	-	UC	R16	Pilipko – 2 Lovchev – 2 Bulgakov – 2	Krutikov
1976 (a)		15	15	5	3	7	15	18	13	R32	-		Bulgakov – 6	Krutikov
1977	2nd	1	38	22	10	6	83	42	54	R16	-		Yartsev – 17	Beskov
1978	1st	5	30	14	5	11	42	33	33	R16	-		Yartsev – 19	Beskov
1979		1	34	21	10	3	66	25	50	Qual.	-		Yartsev – 14	Beskov
1980		2	34	18	9	7	49	26	45	SF	-		Rodionov – 7	Beskov
1981		2	34	19	8	7	70	40	46	RU	ECC	QF	Gavrilov – 21	Beskov
1982		3	34	16	9	9	59	35	41	Qual.	UC	R32	Shavlo – 11	Beskov
1983		2	34	18	9	7	60	25	45	R16	UC	R16	Gavrilov – 18	Beskov
1984		2	34	18	9	7	53	29	45	QF	UC	QF	Rodionov – 13	Beskov
1985		2	34	18	10	6	72	28	46	R16	UC	R16	Rodionov – 14	Beskov
1986		3	30	14	9	7	52	21	37	SF	UC	R16	Rodionov – 17	Beskov
1987		1	30	16	11	3	49	26	42	R16	UC	R16	Rodionov – 12 Cherenkov – 12	Beskov
1988		4	30	14	11	5	40	26	39	QF	UC	R32	Rodionov – 12	Beskov
1989		1	30	17	10	3	49	19	44	QF	ECC	R16	Rodionov – 16	Romantsev
1990		5	24	12	5	7	39	26	29	R16	UC	R32	Shmarov – 12	Romantsev
1991		2	30	17	7	6	57	30	41	QF	ECC	SF	Mostovoi – 13 Radchenko – 13	Romantsev
1992	-	-								W	UC	R32	-	Romantsev

Russia

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Europe		Top scorer (league)	Manager/acting manager
1992	1st	1	26	18	7	1	62	19	43	-	-		Radchenko – 12	Romantsev
1993		1	34	21	11	2	81	18	53	R32	CWC	SF	Beschastnykh – 18	Romantsev
1994		1	30	21	8	1	73	21	50	W	UCL	GS	Beschastnykh – 10	Romantsev
1995		3	30	19	7	5	76	26	63	SF	UCL	GS	Shmarov – 16	Romantsev
1996		1	35	22	9	4	72	35	75	RU	UCL	QF	Tikhonov – 16	Yartsev
1997		1	34	22	7	5	67	30	73	QF	UC	R32	Kechinov – 11	Romantsev
1998		1	30	17	8	5	58	27	59	W	UCL UC	Qual. SF	Tsymbalar – 10	Romantsev
1999		1	30	22	6	2	75	24	72	R32	UCL	GS	Tikhonov – 19	Romantsev
2000		1	30	23	1	6	69	30	70	SF	UCL UC	GS R32	Titov – 13	Romantsev
2001		1	30	17	9	4	56	30	60	QF	UCL	2nd GS	Titov – 11 Robson – 11	Romantsev
2002		3	30	16	7	7	49	36	55	R32	UCL	GS	Beschastnykh – 12	Romantsev
2003		10	30	10	6	14	38	48	36	W	UCL	GS	Pavlyuchenko – 10	Romantsev Chernyshov Fedotov Scala
2004		8	30	11	7	12	43	44	40	R32	UC UIC	R16 QF	Pavlyuchenko – 10	Scala Starkov
2005		2	30	16	8	6	47	26	56	R32	-		Pavlyuchenko – 11	Starkov
2006		2	30	15	13	2	60	36	58	RU	-		Pavlyuchenko – 18	Starkov Fedotov
2007		2	30	17	8	5	50	30	59	SF	UCL UC	GS R32	Pavlyuchenko – 14	Fedotov Cherchesov
2008		8	30	11	11	8	43	39	44	R32	UCL UC	Qual. R32	Bazhenov – 6 Pavlyuchenko – 6 Pavlenko – 6 Welliton – 6	Cherchesov M. Laudrup
2009		2	30	17	4	9	61	33	55	QF	-		Welliton – 21	M. Laudrup Karpin
2010		4	30	13	10	7	43	33	10	R16	UCL UC	Qual. GS	Welliton – 19	Karpin
2011–12		2	44	21	12	11	68	48	75	R16	UC	Qual	Emenike – 13	Karpin
2012–13		4	30	15	6	9	51	39	51	R16	UCL	GS	Y. Movsisyan – 13	Emery Karpin
2013–14		6	30	15	5	10	46	36	50	R16	UC	Qual	Y. Movsisyan – 16	Karpin Gunko
2014–15		6	30	12	8	10	42	42	44	R16	-		Promes – 13	Yakin
2015–16		5	30	15	5	10	48	39	50	R16	-		Promes – 18	Alenichev
2016–17		1	30	22	3	5	46	27	69	R32	UC	Qual	Promes – 11	Alenichev Carrera
2017–18		3	30	16	8	6	51	32	56	SF	UCL	GS	Promes – 15	Carrera
2018–19		5	30	14	7	9	36	31	49	QF	UCL UEL	Qual. GS	Zé Luís – 10	Carrera Kononov
2019–20		7	30	11	6	13	35	33	39	QF	UEL	Qual.	A.Sobolev – 12	Kononov Tedesco
2020–21		2	30	17	6	7	52	34	57	R16	-		Larsson – 15	Tedesco
2021–22		10	30	10	8	12	16	19	38	W	UEL	R16	A.Sobolev – 9	Rui Vitoria Vanoli

Notes

1. Spartak Moscow had qualified for the round of 16 as a group winner, but were disqualified from the competition before playing that round due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Top goalscorers

As of match played 12 November 2022

	Name	Years	League	Russian Cup	Europe	Other	Total
1	Nikita Simonyan	1949–1959	133 (233)	? (?)	? (?)	? (?)	133 (233)
2	Sergey Rodionov	1979–1990 1993–1995	124 (303)	? (?)	? (?)	? (?)	124 (303)
3	Galimzyan Khusainov	1961–1973	102 (350)	? (?)	? (?)	? (?)	102 (350)
4	Yegor Titov	1995–2008	86 (324)	3 (42)	15 (77)	1 (2)	105 (445)
5	Quincy Promes	2014–2018 2021–Present	80 (164)	10 (15)	5 (17)	1 (2)	98 (198)
6	Fyodor Cherenkov	1977–1990 1991–1993	95 (398)	? (?)	? (?)	? (?)	95 (398)
7	Andrey Tikhonov	1992–2000 2011	68 (192)	4 (20)	18 (51)	- (-)	90 (263)
8	Yuri Gavrilov	1977–1985	89 (280)	? (?)	? (?)	? (?)	89 (280)
8	Roman Pavlyuchenko	2003–2008	69 (141)	4 (17)	14 (28)	2 (3)	89 (189)
10	Anatoli Ilyin	1949–1962	83 (224)	? (?)	? (?)	? (?)	83 (224)
11	Yury Sevidov	1960–1965	71 (146)	? (?)	? (?)	? (?)	71 (146)
12	Vladimir Beschastnykh	1991–1994 2001–2002	56 (104)	6 (11)	5 (28)	- (-)	67 (143)
13	Sergei Salnikov	1942–1943 1946–1949 1955–1960	64 (201)	? (?)	? (?)	? (?)	64 (201)
14	Aleksei Paramonov	1947–1959	63 (264)	? (?)	? (?)	? (?)	63 (264)
15	Welliton	2007–2014	57 (126)	2 (6)	1 (15)	- (-)	60 (147)
16	Georgi Yartsev	1977–1980	55 (116)	? (?)	? (?)	? (?)	55 (116)
17	Anatoli Isayev	1953–1962	54 (159)	? (?)	? (?)	? (?)	54 (159)
17	Valeri Shmarov	1987–1991	54 (143)	? (?)	? (?)	? (?)	54 (143)
19	Nikolai Osyanin	1966–1971 1974–1976	50 (248)	? (?)	? (?)	? (?)	50 (248)

Nickname

The team is usually called "red-and-whites," but among the fans "The Meat" (Russian: "Мясо", "Myaso") is a very popular nickname. The origins of the nickname belong to the days of the foundation of the club; in the 1920s, the team was renamed several times, from "Moscow Sports Club" to "Red Presnya" (after the name of one of the districts of Moscow) to "Pishcheviki" ("Food industry workers") to "Promkooperatsiya" ("Industrial cooperation") and finally to "Spartak Moscow" in 1935, and for many years the team was under patronage of one of the Moscow food factories that dealt with meat products.

One of the most favourite slogans of both the fans and players is, "Who are we? We're The Meat!" (Russian: "Кто мы? Мясо!", "Kto my? Myaso!")

Ownerships, kits and crests

FC Spartak Moscow's main colour is red. In 2014, Nike unveiled kit inspired by the club's new home.

Owners, kit suppliers and shirt sponsors

Rival teams and friendships

At present, Spartak's archrival is CSKA Moscow, although this is a relatively recent rivalry that has only emerged after the collapse of the USSR. Seven of ten matches with the largest audience in Russian Premier League (including top three) were Spartak-CSKA derbies. Historically, the most celebrated rivalry is with Dynamo Moscow, a fiercely contested matchup which is Russia's oldest derby. Matches against Lokomotiv Moscow and Zenit Saint Petersburg attract thousands of people as well, almost always resulting in packed stadia. Upon the collapse of the Soviet Union, Spartak's rivalry with Dynamo Kyiv, one of the leaders of the USSR championship, was lost. Since Dynamo Kyiv now plays in the Ukrainian Premier League, both teams must qualify for UEFA tournaments to meet each other.

Since the mid-2000s the supporters of Spartak maintain brotherhood relations with Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) and Olympiacos ultras – a friendship based on common Orthodox faith and same club colours. Also fans of Spartak have generally friendly relationships with Torpedo Moscow supporters, and of supporters of Polish club Lech Poznań.

Stadium

Until 2014, Spartak had never had its own stadium, with the team historically playing in various Moscow stadia throughout its history, even once playing an exhibition match in Red Square. The team played home games at various Moscow stadiums – especially at the Locomotiv and Luzhniki stadiums. After the purchase of the club by Andrei Chervichenko in the early 2000s, several statements were made about the speedy construction of the stadium, but construction did not begin.

After a controlling stake in the club was bought by Leonid Fedun, real steps were taken to promote the stadium project, and in 2006, the Government of Moscow allocated land at Tushino Aeropol at a size of 28.3 hectares for the construction of the stadium. The project involved the main arena of 42,000 people with natural lawn, sports, and an entertainment hall for tennis, handball, basketball and volleyball for 12,000 spectators. The ceremony of laying the first stone took place on 2 June 2007.

In February 2013, it was announced that as a result of a sponsorship deal with Otkritie FC Bank ("Discovery"), the stadium will be called Otkritie Arena for 6 years. The opening match at the new stadium took place on 5 September 2014, when Spartak drew with the Serbian side Red Star Belgrade (1-1). The first competitive match took place on 14 September 2014, in which Spartak defeated Torpedo Moscow 3–1 in the 7th round of the championship.

Players

Current squad

As of 12 September 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  MDA Oleg Reabciuk 4 DF  PAR Alexis Duarte 5 MF  ARG Esequiel Barco 6 DF  SRB Srđan Babić 8 FW  BRA Marquinhos 9 FW  CRC Manfred Ugalde 11 FW  JAM Shamar Nicholson 12 FW  BRA Willian José 14 DF  SUR Myenty Abena 16 GK  RUS Aleksandr Dovbnya 17 MF  RUS Anton Zinkovsky 18 MF  RUS Nail Umyarov 19 FW  PAR Jesús Medina

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 MF  RUS Mikhail Ignatov 23 DF  RUS Nikita Chernov 25 MF  RUS Danil Prutsev 28 MF  RUS Daniil Zorin 29 DF  POR Ricardo Mangas 35 MF  LUX Christopher Martins 47 MF  RUS Roman Zobnin 57 GK  RUS Aleksandr Selikhov 68 DF  RUS Ruslan Litvinov 77 MF  COD Théo Bongonda 82 DF  RUS Daniil Khlusevich 97 DF  RUS Daniil Denisov 98 GK  RUS Aleksandr Maksimenko

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  RUS Yury Koledin (at Torpedo Moscow until 30 June 2025) — DF  RUS Pavel Maslov (at Sochi until 30 June 2025) — DF  POR Tomás Tavares (at LASK until 30 June 2025) — MF  RUS Igor Dmitriyev (at Krylia Sovetov Samara until 30 June 2025) — MF  RUS Andrey Ishutin (at Rostov-2 until 31 Decemder 2024) — MF  RUS Maksim Laykin (at Yenisey Krasnoyarsk until 30 June 2025)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  RUS Ivan Pyatkin (at Rotor Volgograd until 30 June 2025) — MF  RUS Anton Roshchin (at Metallurg Lipetsk until 30 June 2025) — MF  RUS Vitali Shitov (at Torpedo Moscow until 30 June 2025) — MF  RUS Artyom Sholar (at Celje until 30 June 2025) — FW  RUS Pavel Melyoshin (at Sochi until 30 June 2025) — FW  RUS Maksim Ofitserov (at Torpedo Miass until 31 December 2024)

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries, or held any club record. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Spartak. For further list, see List of FC Spartak Moscow players.

Staff

• Owner: Vagit Alekperov, Leonid Fedun
• Managing Director: Yevgeni Melezhikov
• Director of Sports: Tomas Amaral
• Caretaker head coach: Vladimir Slišković
• Assistant coach: Carlos Valle
• Goalkeeping coach: Vasili Kuznetsov
• Physical coach: Fernando Perez Lopez
• Reserves team head coach: Aleksei Lunin
• Reserves team assistant coach: Aleksei Melyoshin
• Reserves team goalkeeping coach: Vasili Kuznetsov

Coaches

Name Period Antonin Fivebr 1936 Mikhail Kozlov Aug 1936–37 Konstantin Kvashnin 1937 – Sept 38 Pyotr Popov Sept 1938–39 Vladimir Gorokhov 1940 Pyotr Popov 1941 Vladimir Gorokhov 1942–43 Konstantin Kvashnin 1944 Pyotr Isakov Jan 1945 – Aug 45 (caretaker) Albert Vollrat Sept 1945–47 Konstantin Kvashnin 1948 Abram Dangulov 1949 – May 51 Georgi Glazkov June 1951 – Dec 51 Vasily Sokolov 1952–54 Nikolay Gulyaev 1955–59 Nikita Simonyan 1 January 1960 – 31 December 1965 Nikolay Gulyaev 1966 Sergei Salnikov Jan 1967 – July 67 Nikita Simonyan 1 July 1967 – 31 December 1972 Nikolay Gulyaev 1973–75 Anatoly Krutikov 1976 Konstantin Beskov 1 January 1977 – 31 December 1988 Oleg Romantsev 1 January 1989 – 31 December 1995 Georgi Yartsev 1 January 1996 – 31 December 1996 Oleg Romantsev 1 January 1997 – 3 May 2003 Andrei Chernyshov 19 June 2003 – 1 September 2003

Name Period Vladimir Fedotov 2 September 2003 – 30 November 2003 (caretaker) Nevio Scala 10 December 2003 – 15 September 2004 Aleksandrs Starkovs 10 October 2004 – 26 April 2006 Vladimir Fedotov 1 June 2006 – 19 June 2007 Stanislav Cherchesov 1 July 2007 – 14 August 2008 Igor Lediakhov 15 August 2008 – 12 September 2008 (caretaker) Michael Laudrup 9 September 2008 – 15 April 2009 Valeri Karpin 16 April 2009 – 30 June 2012 Unai Emery 1 July 2012 – 25 November 2012 Valeri Karpin 26 November 2012 – 18 March 2014 Dmitri Gunko 18 March 2014 – 31 May 2014 Murat Yakin 16 June 2014 – 30 May 2015 Dmitri Alenichev 10 June 2015 – 5 August 2016 Massimo Carrera 5 August 2016 – 22 October 2018 Raúl Riancho 22 October 2018 – 12 November 2018 (caretaker) Oleg Kononov 12 November 2018 – 29 September 2019 Serhiy Kuznetsov 29 September 2019 – 14 October 2019 (caretaker) Domenico Tedesco 14 October 2019 – 17 May 2021 Rui Vitória 24 May 2021 – 15 December 2021 Paolo Vanoli 17 December 2021 – 9 June 2022 Guille Abascal 10 June 2022 – 14 April 2024 Dejan Stanković 16 May 2024 – present

References

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2. History of Spartak Archived 5 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine, fcspartak.ru (in Russian)
3. "History of Spartak 1936" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 27 March 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2007.
4. Robert Edelman [de], Spartak Moscow: A History of the People's Team in the Worker's State. Cornell University Press, 2009.
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7. All-star Spartak rise again Archived 16 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Eduard Nisenboim, uefa.com
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13. ^ We can confirm Paolo Vanoli made a difficult decision to resign from FC Spartak Moscow's head coach position Archived 20 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine
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22. clubelo.com. "Football Club Elo Ratings". ClubElo.
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Further reading

• Edelman, Robert (2009). Spartak Moscow: A History of the People's Team in the Workers' State. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-4742-6.
• Riordan, Jim (2008). Comrade Jim: The Spy Who Played for Spartak. HarperCollins Oub Ltd. ISBN 978-0007251155.

External links

• Official website
• Official website (in Russian)
• Official fan page (in Russian)
• Spartak stadium website

• Association football
• Russia

• FC Spartak Moscow
• Football clubs in Moscow
• Spartak Moscow
• Association football clubs established in 1922
• 1922 establishments in Russia
• Soviet Top League clubs